Talk:Enjoy the Silence/@comment-5261392-20140609030504
After watching and reading ''The Fault In Our Stars, ''I thought it'd be appropriate to whip up an appreciation post/essay about it, so here it goes. *major spoilers ahead. I don't suggest you read this if you're planning on reading the book or watching the movie* The first time I read TFIOS, I fell in love with it (slowly, and then all at once ~), but at the same time there were a lot of negative things going on in my life so I wasn't able to invest myself as much as I could have, if that makes any sense. However, I re read it recently and analyzed major quotes, themes, and events that occurred in the books and I watched the movie. After doing all that, I love it even more than I originally did. I think that TFIOS is a truly beautiful story filled with tons of emotion, heartbreak, metaphors, symolism, and just overall brilliance. It made me laugh, cry, and was very thought provoking. A lot of people complain that it was "pretentious" and "romanticized cancer". First of all, John Green would not glorify cancer or any illness for that matter. I've seen fictional works that glamourized problematic things, but TFIOS wasn't one of them. The whole purpose of having two cancer patients fall in love was to show that even during the darkest of times, even while someone is living with the utmost amount of pain, love exists. It exists in all forms, it can bring people out of darkness, give them something to feel after being numb, change their perspective on life. Before Augustus Waters, Hazel Grace Lancaster was in a state of depression for years. She had a terminal illness and since she knew she was gonna die, her perspective was "what's the point?". Her life was drab and depressing. Until she met Augustus, who showed her happiness, love, and excitement for the first time since she was diagnosed with cancer. She had an instant connection and couldn't stop smiling while she talked to this boy, with his cigarette metaphor and stories and interests. He helped her realize how beautiful she was, he helped her do things she never would have gotten to do (such as go to Amsterdam and talk to the author of her favorite novel even though he ended up being a huge prick, she still had an amazing time with him), and even after he died, Augustus always remained a huge part of Hazel. Anyway, going back to my point - John Green fully acknowledges that cancer fucking sucks. One of the main characters died from it! The only reason he used two cancer patients as the central love story was to show how even in something so terrible, something beautiful can come out of it, and can't that apply to anything? Certainly John Green is not the only author to have that sort of theme in his writing. As far as it being pretentious, well, it's all subjective but the only reason that some may find it pretentious is because of Augustus Waters. Gus is pretentious, no doubt about it. However, he's also loyal, charismatic, optimistic, thoughtful, and intelligent. His being pretentious is a character flaw Green added because let's be honest, which character ''isn't ''flawed? It's not like other people didn't realize Gus was pretentious. His own best friend talked about what a cocky SOB he was at his fake funeral! So obviously, Green wrote it that way and for a reason - to show that even the most charming, confident people have their flaws. Now, going back to the story, it's just so great and fantastic and one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read. The love story is flawless on it's own because it's not the typical "boy meets girl, they fall in love right away and end up together". Hazel met Augustus doing something she hated, he completely changed her life and gave her a better outlook on everything, and then boom, he's dead. However, the reason their love story is so beautiful (and I talked about this before) was because of how both of them created something beautiful out of something tragic. Gus' time was limited, but he was fortunate enough to meet Hazel, the love of his life, who made his last days some of his best. On the flip side, Augustus was able to pull Hazel out of her state of depression, show her what love and happiness were and showing her things she never would have seen. And I also loved the Gus/Hazel/Isaac friendship like a lot, and the character development from Hazel and even the story with Peter. And the symbols and metaphors, man. And the quotes were flawless too...idk, I'll write a post talking about them later but it's getting late and I'm tired and yeah Overall, I thought this novel was fantastic and the movie stayed so true to the book. Again, I'll post all that other stuff later but I just love TFIOS sososo much